Intercommunicating toy

ABSTRACT

An intercommunicating toy comprises a toy body; a storage device inside the toy body for storing a first data; a communication interface inside the toy and electrically connected to the storage device for transmitting a second data to update the first data in the storage device; a controller inside the toy body and electrically connected to the storage device for controlling the communication interface in order to update the storage device; and a wireless communication device inside the toy body for providing an intercommunication effect with another intercommunicating toy according to a control command of the controller.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention is related to an intercommunicating toy,and more particularly to a toy which can intercommunicate with othertoys by way of wireless communication for increasing the fun effect.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] As the internet technology is improved day-by-day, the toyapplications are designed for firmware updateable to meet the marketrequirement in addition to functions of speaking, singing, and acting.

[0003]FIG. 1 shows the conventional toy supporting the technology ofinternet software download. The toy 11 can download the newest softwareto the flash memory inside the toy 11 by way of connecting the cable 12to the computer 13. Certainly, the newest software can be downloadedfrom the internet 15 to the toy 11 through the connection wire 14 to thecomputer 13. The interface ports between the computer and the toy may bea parallel port or a serial port. Because the operation interface isconvenient to the user, this kind of toy is fashionable to the toymarket.

[0004] The conventional toys is always improved, but they are allindependent, and the intercommunication among the toys is lacking. Ifthe toys have the function of intercommunication, they will bemarketable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a toy forintercommunication to other toys by way of wireless communicationtechnology.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy thatcan talk with other toys or act according to other toys.

[0007] According to the present invention, an intercommunicating toycomprises: a toy body; a storage device inside the toy body for storinga first data; a communication interface inside the toy and electricallyconnected to the storage device for transmitting a second data to updatethe first data in the storage device; a controller inside the toy bodyand electrically connected to the storage device for controlling thecommunication interface in order to update the storage device; and awireless communication device inside the toy body for providing anintercommunication effect with another intercommunicating toy accordingto a control command of the controller.

[0008] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thestorage device is an updateable memory.

[0009] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, theupdateable memory is a flash memory.

[0010] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the firstdata is a software and the second data is a new software.

[0011] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thesecond data is obtained from a computer through the communicationinterface, and the computer is connected to an internet.

[0012] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thecommunication interface is a parallel port.

[0013] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thecommunication interface is a serial port.

[0014] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thecontroller includes a system control/voice process device.

[0015] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thewireless communication device is a radio frequency (RF) wirelesscommunication device.

[0016] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thewireless communication device is an infrared rays (IR) wirelesscommunication device.

[0017] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thecommunication interface is a wireless communication interface forproviding the intercommunicating toy to wirelessly download the seconddata from a computer.

[0018] According to the present invention, an intercommunicating toycomprises: a first toy having a first wireless communication device; anda second toy having a second wireless communication device; the firsttoy and the second toy communicate through the first wirelesscommunication device and the second wireless communication device; thesecond toy acts according to a first command of the first toy; the firsttoy acts according to a second command of the second toy so as to makean intercommunication effect.

[0019] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, both thefirst toy and the second toy have an updateable memory.

[0020] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thesoftware is updated through a communication interface; the communicationinterface is connected to a computer; the computer is connected to a website of an internet.

[0021] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thecommunication interface is a parallel port.

[0022] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, thecommunication interface is a serial port.

[0023] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, both thefirst wireless communication device and the second wirelesscommunication device are a radio frequency wireless communicationdevice.

[0024] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, both thefirst wireless communication device and the second wirelesscommunication device are an infrared rays wireless communication device.

[0025] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the toyshave a shape of an animal.

[0026] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, theintercommunication effect includes a sound, a light and an act.

[0027] The present invention may best be understood through thefollowing description with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028]FIG. 1 is a conventional toy for updating the software.

[0029]FIG. 2 is a system diagram for two toys' intercommunicationaccording to the present invention;

[0030]FIG. 3 is a block diagram according to the present invention;

[0031]FIG. 4 is a control block diagram for communication interface anddata transmission according to the present invention; and

[0032]FIG. 5 is a system control/voice process device block diagramaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0033] Please refer to FIG. 2 showing the system diagram for two toy'sintercommunication. For instance of two dog toys' intercomunication, thedog toys 21,22 can call or respond each other by way of wirelesscommunication. For example, the dog toy 21 gives a bark, and thehardware will send a command requiring a response to the dog toy 22.When the dog toy 22 receives the command, it will respond the barksound. The same principle may apply to other intercommunications easily.

[0034] In general, the contents of the intercommunication includes everyvoice, song, and action according to the present invention. These dataof the voice, song and action may be updated from the web site of theinternet or the CD-ROM provided by the toy maker. The toys have acommunication interface which can connect to the computer for updatingthe new version software. The computer interface includes the serialport, the parallel port, the USB port, the game port, etc.

[0035]FIG. 3 shows the hardware block diagram of the intercommunicatingtoy. The intercommunicating toy includes a toy body 30, a communicationinterface/data transmission control device 31, an updateable memory 32,a wireless communication device 33, system control/voice process device34, speaker 35, lamplight/motor 36, etc. The communicationinterface/data transmission control device 31 may work to download thesoftware from the computer or the internet to the updateable memory 32.The intercommunication among toys is the main feature of presentinvention. The intercommunicating toys may intercommunicate with otherintercommunicating toys for increasing the fun or game effect.

[0036] In addition, the system control/voice process device 34 cancontrol the wireless device to communicate with other intercommunicatingtoys by way of radio frequency (RF) or infrared rays (IR) communication.The system control/voice process device 34 can also drive the speaker 35and lamplight/motor 36 to make the intercommunicating toy having theeffects of sounding, lighting, vibrating, etc. The operation is easy todo. For example of dog toys, they may be designed as the second dog toyfollows the first dog toy to bark, to sing songs, to swing the tail,etc. Thus the dog toys may have the intercommunication effects.Furthermore the toy's fun may be increased.

[0037] Certainly, the new software may be put on the CD-ROM or the website provided by the toy maker. It may be downloaded through thecommunication interface/data transmission control device 31. Thecommunication interface/data transmission control device 31 can alsoupload the status of the intercommucating toy to the computer. Totally,the main work of the communication interface/data transmission controldevice 31 is the communication and control between the toy and thecomputer for transmitting data efficiently. The interfaces that thecommunication interface/data transmission control device 31 can handleinclude the serial port, the parallel port, the USB port and the gameport.

[0038] The new contents of the toy may be stored in the updateablememory 32 after they are downloaded. The updateable memory 32 may storethe voice and song data or the control program. The updateable memory 32may be the flash memory, DRAM(Dynamic RAM) or SRAM (Static RAM), etc.

[0039] The system control/voice process device 34 is the main controlelement. It handles the execution and the control of the system program,the data of voice and song, the actions, etc, where the actions of thetoy can be showed by driving the motor or the lamplight. The systemcontrol/voice process device 34 can also be as a control element for thetransmission of the control signal and the wireless data. Thus the toymay intercommunicate each other by the execution of those functions.

[0040] The wireless communication device 33 is the control element forthe voice and the wireless control signal. In addition to transimit thecontrol signal and the control program of the toy, it can even transmitthe voice of the user. The transmission mediums may be the radiofrequency (RF), the infrared rays (IR), etc. Certainly, the RF cariermay be 27 MHZ, 49 MHZ, 315 MHZ, 433 MHZ, 900 MHZ, and the IRtransmission may be a general IR or the IRDA.

[0041]FIG. 4 shows the computer interface/data transmission controlblock diagram, wherein includes the computer interface communicationprotocol control 41, the data transmission direction control 42, datasequence transfer device 43 and the memory data storage control 44.

[0042] The computer interface communication protocol control 41 maydetect the comupter basic interface setting and select the most suitabledriving program to transmit (download or upload) the updateable data,where the computer interface includes the serial port, the parallelport, the USB port and the game port.

[0043] The data transmission direction control 42 may handle the dataflow, and control downloading data to the toy or uploading data to thecomputer.

[0044] The data sequence transfer device 43 may transfer the dataformats. The serial format data of the serial port may be transferred tothe format which is fit to the format of the memory. Regarding to theparallel data format of the parallel port or the serial data format ofthe USB port and game port, the data sequence transfer device 43involved to transfer them.

[0045] The memory data storage control 44 may control the data storageof the memory. The memory may be the flash memory, the DRAM, the SRAM,etc.

[0046]FIG. 5 shows the system control/voice process device 34. This isthe contorl kernel of the intercommunicating toy. It includes the memorydata read/write control 51, the voice data play 52, the melody data play53, sound/light/motor control device 54, RF/IR signal and datatransmission control 55 and wireless communication protocol control 56.

[0047] The memory data read/write control 51 can handle the data readfor the memory and the control program or the access control forrestoring the toy current status to the memory.

[0048] The voice data play 52 can decode the voice data stored in thememory and play back the voice data.

[0049] The melody data play 53 can decode the delody data and play backthe melody data.

[0050] The sound/light/motor control device 54 can handle the toyactions by driving the motors, controlling the light, excuting thesystem program.

[0051] The RF/IR data and signal transmission control 55 can control theRF or IR devices to transmit data or receive data exactly. Anotherpurpose of the RF/IR data and signal transmission control 55 is treatedas a window to the data or the control signal. Therefore, RF/IR data andsignal transmission control 55 is the control center of the wirelesscommunication device.

[0052] The wireless communication protocol control 56 handles thecomplicated communication protocol of RF or IR. Thus the target of“intercommunication function” of the intercommunicating toy may beattained and the intercommunication operations may be implemented. Theapplications of the intercommunicating toy is as followed:

[0053] 1. Single toy can be controlled and played.

[0054] 2. Two or more toys can controlled and played respectively.

[0055] 3. Two or more toys can communicate with the control signal ordata each other.

[0056] 4. Two or more toys can be controlled and played simultaneouslyand further the channel shared purpose may be attained.

[0057] While the invention has been described in terms of what arepresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments,it is to be understood that the invention need not be limited to thedisclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures.

What is claimed is:
 1. An intercommunicating toy comprising: a toy body;a storage device inside said toy body for storing a first data; acommunication interface inside said toy and electrically connected tosaid storage device for transmitting a second data to update said firstdata in said storage device; a controller inside said toy body andelectrically connected to said storage device for controlling saidcommunication interface in order to update said storage device; and awireless communication device inside said toy body for providing anintercommunication effect with another intercommunicating toy accordingto a control command of said controller.
 2. An intercommunicating toyaccording to claim 1 wherein said storage device is an updateablememory.
 3. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 2 wherein saidupdateable memory is a flash memory.
 4. An intercommunicating toyaccording to claim 1 wherein said first data is a software and saidsecond data is a new software.
 5. An intercommunicating toy according toclaim 1 wherein said second data is obtained from a computer throughsaid communication interface, and said computer is connected to aninternet.
 6. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein saidcommunication interface is a parallel port.
 7. An intercommunicating toyaccording to claim 1 wherein said communication interface is a serialport.
 8. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein saidcontroller includes a system control/voice process device.
 9. Anintercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein said wirelesscommunication device is a radio frequency (RF) wireless communicationdevice.
 10. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1 wherein saidwireless communication device is an infrared rays (IR) wirelesscommunication device.
 11. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 1wherein said communication interface is a wireless communicationinterface for providing said intercommunicating toy to wirelesslydownload said second data from a computer.
 12. An intercommunicating toycomprising: a first toy having a first wireless communication device;and a second toy having a second wireless communication; said first toyand said second toy communicate through said first wirelesscommunication device and said second wireless communication device; saidsecond toy acts according to a first command of said first toy; saidfirst toy acts according to a second command of said second toy so as tomake an intercommunication effect.
 13. An intercommunicating toyaccording to claim 12 wherein both said first toy and said second toyhave an updateable memory.
 14. An intercommunicating toy according toclaim 13 wherein said software is updated through a communicationinterface; said communication interface is connected to a computer; saidcomputer is connected to a web site of an internet.
 15. Anintercommunicating toy according to claim 14 wherein said communicationinterface is a parallel port.
 16. An intercommunicating toy according toclaim 14 wherein said communication interface is a serial port.
 17. Anintercommunicating toy according to claim 12 wherein both said firstwireless communication device and said second wireless communicationdevice are a radio frequency wireless communication device.
 18. Anintercommunicating toy according to claim 12 wherein both said firstwireless communication device and said second wireless communicationdevice are an infrared rays wireless communication device.
 19. Anintercommunicating toy according to claim 12 wherein said toys have ashape of an animal.
 20. An intercommunicating toy according to claim 12wherein said intercommunication effect includes a sound, a light and anact.